March 30, 2012

STEVE PROHM WINS THE JOE B. HALL AWARD

NEW ORLEANS, LA -- Murray State's Steve Prohm is the recipient of the 2012 Joe B. Hall award, which will be presented annually to the top first-year coach in Division I college basketball.

Prohm had one of the best rookie seasons in the history of the game when he led Murray State to a 31-2 record and into the third round of the NCAA Tournament. Prohm's Racers were the last unbeaten team at 23-0 and were the only team in the nation to go undefeated on the road at 13-0. MSU tied the Ohio Valley Conference record with 31 wins in a single season and 23 straight wins set a league record.

"Often there is an adjustment period when a new coach takes over," said Angela Lento, co-founder of CollegeInsider.com. "There was no adjustment period for Murray State. Coach Prohm did a fantastic job of, not only maintaining, but elevating the program to new heights."

When the Racers knocked off No. 20 Memphis (Dec. 11), it pushed them into the national rankings for the first time since 1998 and MSU stayed ranked through the rest of the regular season which was 13 weeks. MSU rose to their highest rankings in the 87-year history of the program when they were No. 7 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll and No. 9 in the Associated Press Poll in the week of Feb. 9.

Joe B. Hall was given the task of following the legendary Adolph Rupp. In his first season at the University of Kentucky, Hall finished 20-8, won the SEC and advanced to the NCAA Regional Finals.

From 1972 to 1985 Hall would win two-thirds of his games (297-100), receive four SEC Coach of the Year honors and win a National Championship (1978). Along with the 1978 title, Hall also guided Kentucky to a runner-up finish to UCLA in the 1975 NCAA tournament, a Final Four appearance in the 1984 NCAA Tournament and an NIT championship in 1976. He won 8 Southeastern Conference regular season championships and one Southeastern Conference tournament championship (1984).

Hall is one of only three men to win an NCAA championship as a player (1949- Kentucky) and coach (1978- Kentucky). The only others to achieve this feat are Bob Knight and Dean Smith.

The award was presented at the CollegeInsider.com awards banquet in New Orleans, site of the men's NCAA Basketball Championship.